READING, Pa. (CN) — Former International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98 president Brian Burrows was sentenced to four years in federal prison Wednesday after a jury found him guilty of embezzling union funds to pay for personal expenses and allowing others to do the same.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl sentenced Burrows — the second-highest ranking Local 98 member from 2008 until his ouster in 2021 — in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, condemning Burrows for ignoring his fiduciary duties to union members.
"Your position in the union was a position of importance," Schmehl said. "You clearly could have made a difference."
Following his prison sentence, Burrows must undergo three years of probation and 100 hours community service. He must pay a more than $130,000 forfeiture, a $1,800 special assessment and restitution to be determined in early July, Schmehl said.
Burrows’ sentencing comes after being convicted in December 2023 on 13 counts of embezzling union funds, four counts of submitting false labor management forms and three counts of tax fraud.
Prosecutors had sought a higher sentence, recommending Burrows see nearly six years in federal prison.
Burrows’ siphoning of tens of thousands of union dollars to renovate his personal properties, combined with his complicity as other union members — including longtime Local 98 leader John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty — embezzled over $600,000 from the union between April 2010 and August 2016, justified the harsh recommended sentence, prosecutors argued in court documents.
Defense attorney Thomas A. Bergstrom strongly disagreed, suggesting Wednesday that such a high sentence would be unjustifiable. Dougherty's rampant misuse of union funds — which went toward items ranging from baby wipes and suits to concert tickets and birthday extravaganzas — was not foreseeable by Burrows, he argued.
"Frankly, it's like trying to catch the wind — I mean, you don't know what was going on behind the scenes there," he said.
Burrows' defense also attempted during pre-sentencing arguments to curry favor with Schmehl by portraying Burrows as a thoughtful soul, calling on electricians and longtime business partners Joseph and Brian McHugh to testify to his character. Both witnesses spoke about how Burrows helped admit several of their friends and family members to Local 98, refusing any form of repayment each time.
"Never once did he ask me for a thing," Joseph McHugh told the court.
Bergstrom also presented a series of written testimony — including letters from WSFS Bank senior vice president Salvatore Patti, Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority CEO John McNichol and Pennsylvania state representative Ed Neilson — calling Burrows a family man and friend who always prioritized union members' well-being.
Finally, Burrows himself spoke directly to Schmehl. While never apologizing for his crimes, Burrows noted that his work as Local 98 president brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in general, health care and profit sharing funds — all to the benefit of union members.
"My daily job wasn't to see what's on John Dougherty's expense reports," he added.
Burrows did not apologize for his actions, instead simultaneously acknowledging his guilt and asserting that a sentence as harsh as prosecutors' recommendations would be excessive.
"I completely believe in the jury system," he said. "I took my chances in the jury system, and I'll take whatever's given to me. I'm not trying to hide from it."
While Schmidt acknowledged that Local 98 thrived under Burrows' leadership, he emphasized during sentencing that it did not make up for Burrows' refusal to hold his coworkers accountable as they stole union dollars "before his very eyes."
"The theme in all of these cases — well, in most of these cases — has been a breach of trust," Schmehl told Burrows. "This case is probably the most egregious case so far."
Prosecutors' high recommended sentence and Schmehl's milder punishment follows a trend established throughout the Justice Department's takedown of the Local 98 embezzlement ring.
In the months leading up to Burrows' sentencing, Schmehl had handed down lighter sentences than recommended by prosecution to four co-defendants — although each of those union members pleaded guilty, unlike Burrows and Dougherty.
In February, Schmehl gave Michael Neill, Local 98's former apprentice training director, a 13 month prison sentence after prosecutors asked for as much as two years.
Former Local 98 political director Marita Crawford received a two week prison sentence plus three months of house arrest after prosecutors asked that she face up to six months behind bars.
And both Niko Rodriguez and Brian Fiocca — two low-ranking union members who prosecutors painted as Dougherty's errand runners — received probation sentences.
Burrows' sentencing sets the stage for Dougherty's own July 11 sentencing. Convicted in 2023 on 66 federal counts — including embezzlement, conspiracy and wire and tax fraud — prosecutors are expected to recommend a significantly harsher sentence for the former union boss.
This is Dougherty's third federal trial since 2019.
In 2021, a jury found Dougherty guilty of seven honest services fraud charges and one conspiracy charge, forcing him to step down from Local 98 and ending his nearly three-decade reign as one of Philadelphia’s most powerful labor organizers and power brokers. He has yet to be sentenced.
Dougherty was also arrested and charged with threatening a union contractor who employed his nephew, although Schmehl declared a mistrial in April after the jury deadlocked.
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